The main focus of this release is stability and performance and therefore a lot of “under the hood” non visual work has been done. While still a work in progress, the online experience has gotten some much needed love and is now much more stable and reliable. Overall performance increases have been achieved with the move to Unreal Engine 4.15.2 combined with reworking some core game systems. Still lots of work to do in these areas, but the current Ground Branch gaming experience feels much better than previous builds.

Build Version 1017

Build 231705

Engine:4.15.2-0+UE4

Approximate Update size: 2.0GB

Steam build Id: 1830587

Dedicated Server Steam build Id: 1830418

Approximate Update size: 84MB

Known Issues

LAN and user hosted (from game main menu) MP sessions are not reliable. We need to do some work with the Steam UE4 integration still

EVERYTHING is still a work in progress

Some users with lower end systems may experience a crash with trying to load Tanker Ship maps. This is due to the time it takes to load certain resources for the map… The game times out while waiting. A fix is being investigated

Engine Update

We have officially moved Ground Branch to version 4.15.2 version of Unreal Engine.

As with all new engine updates we take on, we will be utilizing various new features and updates as we go and the game will see various graphics, feature and performance improvements.GENERAL CHANGES

Stability/Performance

As mentioned, the big push for this build is stability and smoothness of online play. Lots of work has gone into making connecting/joining online sessions reliable as well as staying connected round after round.

Unreal Engine 4.15.2 brought with it various performance optimizations, but one of the main ones that offers both performance and visual enhancements is a reworking of the streaming system. Not only is it more efficient, but is much more reliable in getting textures to stream in properly when needed.

New Maps

Its actually a reworking of the existing Alleyway map and is now called Power Station. This will be a good map for both Coop as well as adversarial gametypes:

A VERY EARLY version of the Oil Rig map is also included. This is in the blocking out stage that defines the overall playable space and general flow of the map. Maps in this stage are normally not included because they are so basic and and go through many more revisions before getting close to a final layout. However we thought it would be a nice change of pace to get a look at something so early.

** Oil Rig will only work if running Single Player Training gametype

Killhouse Timerun

The Killhouse Timerun map is working again and now includes the automatic target system from Aircraft Takedown. An addition to this system has the doors resetting to closed upon hitting the ‘Apply’ button when resetting the targets.

Night Vision update

We took some time to iterate on the visuals of night vision and continue to get closer to something we are happy with.

What’s coming

As always, we will continue to optimize and make things more stable as we go but also have some exciting things coming in the near future. With this build out of the way we are starting on our character system upgrade that will bring with it full body IK allowing us to get weapon collision back in as well as numerous other character/character and character/environment interactions. On top of that we will start to introduce some of the features we have planned for the wrist device that we added a couple builds back as well as a couple more maps!

* Tweaked night vision effect for more contrast, color differences and to be a bit brighter

* Added r.TonemapperFilm=0 to DefaultEngine.ini to revert tonemapper back to pre 4.15 version. New one looks bad and requires a lot of tweaking that I don’t have time for

* updated GB_BUILD_NUMBER usage to add leading zero.
* maintenance pass on various assets to allow packaging under 4.15.1
– deleted ABP_MaleHostage and related assets as they were non-functional anyway
– FIXED redirectors under /AI
– updated all Blueprint enumerators due to FText change and removed all localisation.
– replaced usage of old/reduntant BPML_Object macros with native or C++ versions and then deleted the macros

* Adjusted volume for M4/M16 firing sounds to be lower
* updated SceneComponent to use fix from prev GB engine version
* updated GenerateBuildNumber.bat & .uproject file to account for spaces in ProjectDirectory path.
* updated ue4_setvars.bt & DedicatedServer.bat to keep them up to date

* switching to seamless transition for testing
– Hopefulyl smooths out process of moving from RR to map and joinging MP games

* created UGBUIFunctionLibrary::GetMapThumbNails()
– finds textures located in same directory as map with TN prefix matched to lighting scenario.
– e.g. TN_Tankership_All_Day1
* created WBP_MapEntry
– use GetMapThumbNails() to hook up screen shots.
– includes map path & lighting scenario in one entry.

* updated DefaultGame.ini to make sure map thumb nails were cooked using DirectoriesToAlwaysCook entries.
* corrected names of map thumb nails that were incorrect
* resaved Aircraft_Takedown to ensure world settings was up to date.

* Small adjustment to M1014 material roughness setup
* Added in door reset to functionality to random target seystem
– When Apply button is pushed on TargetSwitch to set targets, all doors in map will be reset as well

* New cinderblock/brick props
* More work on PowerStation layout and start of texturing
* Adjusted height of chainlink fence meshes to be shorter
* Made laser end point flare smaller
* Fixed bad scaling on Movable_LightTower mesh
– Was to small

* Work on new chainlink fence BP
– Replaced chain fences in Depot map except those along top of cement wall
* Created new chainfence gate BP
– Allows for proper collision
– Can later be updated to be operable in some way

* Replaced fence meshes with new BP based chainlink fence
– Slanted pieces are still old mesh style, but only used in training maps as perimeter fencing

* Removed fence sections along top of cement wall around depot compound

* Adding in a ini setting possible fix for continued pausing during AI firing. It is some debug stuff that Epic and nvidia added for driver testing

* Made some small adjustments to the way things are blended in the base sky material
* Deleted auto generated collision on some marketplace distant mountain meshes being used in PowerStation map
* Some work on PowerStation map
– Base materials added to exterior and above ground structure
– Some small adjustments to layout